Surgical needle



D.-M. LIT TLEJOHN. SURGICAL NEEDLE. APPLICATKON- FILED JUNE 24. mm.

1,377,359. Patented May 10, 1921.

INVENTOR.

I 17. Mzzzz ozm.

great res.

D NA'M. LITTLEJOHN, or PANA, ILLINOIS.

SURGICAL NEEDLE.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, Dam M. LITTLEJOHN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pana, in the county of Christian and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Surgical Needles, of which the following is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying drawmgs.

This invention relates to surgical needles and more particularly to a needle of this type adapted for use without the assistance of needle holders and forceps.

An important object of the invention is to provide a needle of the above character which whenlaid upon a table will always present an upstanding grasping surface by means of which it may be readily. picked up.

This object I accomplish by forming a needle withsemi-circular bends at each end thereof, one of the ends being provided upon the extremity thereof with a piercing point and the otherend being provided with an eye for thereception of sewing thread. The semi-circular bend formed in the device will be of sufiicient size to allow'the grasping thereof by the fingers, the fingers being placed within the bend. In the use of ordinary needles the use of holders and forceps is necessary and as is well known the roughened surfaces of the forceps cause corrugations to form on the side of the needle which render each successive stitch more diflicult to perform.

A further object of the invention is to provide a surgical needle wherein the initial incision of the needle is accomplished pulling instead of pushing the needle and in which the pulling motion may be accomplished when the portion of the needle grasped by the fingers is practically parallel with the surface in which the stitch is being taken thereby allowing resting of the hand during such initial movement and accomplishment of the initial incision. It is'well known that in forcing the needle in the initial movement of the stitch, with the ordinary type of needle where the initial incision is accomplished by pressure, theaction of the muscles of the upper arm arebrought into play and consequently are difficult to check when'the point of the needle passes throughthe outer skin. This is es pecially true in closing surface incisions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a needle of this type having, ad-

Specification of Letters Patent. Pa tgnted May 1Q), 1921,

' Application filed June 24,

1920. Serial No. 391,390.

jacent the eye thereof, a tapered enlargement terminating at the eye in an abrupt reduction forming a shoulder. T his enlargement opens the incision made by the point or lance end of the needle sufiiciently to permit the sewing thread or suture to pass therethrough without binding.

A further object of the invention is to provide a surgical needle which may be used for sewing either surface incisions or in any'deep incision where the fingers may be admitted and the construction of which is such that in. pulling the needle through the tissues, the form thereof causes the same to so rotate in the fingers as to be in position to be immediatelyused in taking the following stitch.

These and other objects I accomplish by means of the needleshown in the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout, and wherein: s

Figure 1 is side elevation of my needle.

Fig. 2 is a similar elevation thereof taken at an angle of 90 degrees to the elevation shown in Fig; 1..

Fig. 8 is an end elevation thereof showing the manner in which the needle. rests upon a flat surface. I

Fig. 4 showsthe initial operation in start ing a s t-itch. V

Fig. 5 shows a stitch partially completed, the one end of the needle having'passed through both sides of the wound, and

Fig. pleted.

Referring now'more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the body or central portion of my needle. One end ofthe' body portion is provided with a semicircular bend 11 of sufficient size to accommodate one or more of the fingers of the hand. The free end of the bend 11 is provided with a piercing point 12 Or the like.

The opposite end of the body portion 1 is provided with a similarly curved semi- 6 shows a stitch practically comcircular bend l3 terminating at its end in an eye 14- for the receptlon of the sewing thread.

permit the passage of the suture without bindin In the use oi my needle, in starting the same the fingers are inserted in the semicircuiar bend 13 and the point l2,passed through the sides of the wound which are to be closed, the needle being pulled, hen the bend 11 has been completely passed through the sides of the wound, this bend is then grasped by the fingers and the needle rotated tirough an angie so as to properly aline the bend 13 with the stitch openings, when the bend may be drawn through the stitch openings, as illustrated by the successive steps shown in the drawings. it will be noted that when the stitch is completed the lance point 12 is in the proper position for engagement with the edge oi the incision to form the next stitch having moved through a complete cycle and being positioned at a point alined with the initial incision of the previous stitch and spaced therefrom. While I have illustrated and described my needle as being used for closing surface incisions it is, of course, understood that the needle may be readily operated within any incision which is sufficiently large to permit admission of the fingers.

I am aware that there are surgical needles provided at each end with a bend and in which the bends are arranged right angles. These bends are, however, not of suiticient length to form a finger receiving hook such as is formed by the semi-circular bend of my needle, and consequently grasping the ends of these needles by the hand is practically impossible. While I have stated above that the bends 11 and 13 are semi-circular it is to be understood that it is not necessary that the same should form a complete semicircle as it is only necessary that they be continued sui'liciently to form a finger receivhook and that the piercing point 12 should lie parallel to, or approximately parallel to the body portion of the needle in order that said piercing point may be started by a pull upon the needle.

()ther changes, of a similar character, be ing possible in the construction of my device, l donot limit myself to the specific construction hereinbefore set forth, but may make any such changes, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having now described my invention, wha 1' claim is: I

1. In a surgical needle a body portion pro vided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye.

2. In a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks of the same and uniform curvature, one of said hooks beingprovided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye.

3. In a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with semi-circular bends forming linger receiving hooks, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye.

4. In a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said hooks being in planes disposed at an angle.

5. In a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with semi-circular bends "forming finger receiving hooks, one oi said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said hooks being in planes disposed at an angle.

6. in a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said hooks being disposed in planes at right angles to one another.

7. In a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks of the same and uniform curvature, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said hooks being disposed in planes at right angles to one another.

8. in a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks, one or said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said piercing point being directed in the general direction of the loop provided with the eye.

9. in a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks of the same and uniform curvature, one Of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said piercing point being directed in the general direction oi the loop provided with the eye.

10. In a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with semi-circular bends forming finger receiving hooks, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said piercing point being directed in the general direction of the loop provided with the eye.

11. in a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said hooks being in planes disposed at an angle,

said piercing point being directedin the general direction of the loop provided with the eye.

12. In a surgical needle a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks of the same and uniform curvature, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, said hooks being disposed in planes at rightangles to one another, said piercing point being directed in the general direction of the loop provided with the eye.

13. In a surgical needle, a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, the body of the needle adjacent said eye being pro-- vided with a tapered enlargement terminating next adjacent the eye in an abrupt shoulder.

14. In a surgical needle, a body portion provided upon its end with finger receiving hooks, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an eye, the material of the needle adjacent said eye being tapered enlargement terminating in an abruptshoulder forming a reduction, said reduction being provided with an eye, said piercing point being directed in the same general direction of the loop with the eye.

16. In a surgical needle, a body portion provided upon its ends with finger receiving hooks of the same and uniform curvature, one of said hooks being provided with a piercing point and the other of said hooks being provided with an enlargement terminating in a shoulder forminga reduction, said reduction being provided with an eye, said hooks being disposed in planes at right angles to one another and said piercing point being directed in the general direction of the loop provided with the eye.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

DANA M. LITTLEJOHN. 

